The Annual Meeting & Exposition of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) will take place in Washington D.C. from October 9 to 11. This year’s motto is “Be All You Can Be” – and Rheinmetall seems to be taking the motto seriously: The German armaments company will also be presenting the armored vehicle for the German Armed Forces (-> here you can find the latest army news) Skyranger turret with airburst ammunition on an M5 Ripsaw Robotic Combat Vehicle.
The Skyranger is “a highly mobile, effective and precise air defense system capable of engaging modern threats on the battlefield, especially highly agile or small unmanned aerial targets in a swarm”, according to a recent Rheinmetall press release. The M5 Ripsaw with active (3D AESA radar) and passive infrared sensors as well as the 30×173 millimeter KCE-ABM turret cannon with high rate of fire and surface-to-air missiles offers “superior, autonomous firepower to protect soldiers in the most difficult operational areas”. The Rheinmetall press release continues: “The modular system on display at the show with Rheinmetall’s Path A kit provides world-class air defence in line with the US Army’s air and missile defence modernization priorities.”
Rheinmetall is also showing a prototype of the M109-52 self-propelled howitzer with the L52 howitzer gun system and the PATH Autonomous Kit (A-Kit) navigation system, which is designed to enable fully autonomous vehicle movement. With a modification of the HX3, the HX3 CTT, also on display, Rheinmetall and its partner GM Defense are fulfilling a rapid prototyping order from the US Army for the Common Tactical Truck (CTT) program.
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